The Great Gatsby

Through The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald seems to communicate a message about people’s failure to accomplish their dreams—Nick, Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy all have ideas for the perfect life and none of them are able to achieve them. Deeply explore one character—his/her dreams, his/her dreams, his/her attempts to accomplish those dream, his/her reasons for failure, and the message that Fitzgerald might be communicating through this failure.

The pursuit of dreams is the eternal topic for human. Some fanatical pursuit of fame and wealth, and some will lay down their lives for human equality. Whatever the realm of pursuing dreams, ultimately, I think it is the pursuit of spiritual satisfaction. However, in the reality, people’s dreams are very easy to be materialized. The background of The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is exactly such a society—blindly pursuing the dreams, which are materialized, leads people get lost and finally fail for their dreams. In this novel, all the characters have their ideas for their dreams, but none of them are able to achieve them. So does Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle is an underclass married woman. Living in such a material society, Myrtle has enough of her poor life with her poor husband. She has a dream—escaping from her husband and having a luxurious life. Obviously, she fails to accomplish her dream.

As an underlying social character, Myrtle cannot achieve her dream by herself. She must depend on some other upper class men, like Tom. When she pours over the story of her first meeting with Tom, she describes that, “He had on a dress suit and patent-leather shoes, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off him” (24). At the first tome Myrtle meets Tom, she falls for Tom. Or we can say, she falls for Tom’s wealthy dress up. Depending on Tom, Myrtle lives in a long white cake of apartment-houses, has parties with neighbors, dresses beautiful clothes, and has a lovely puppy. All of these tell us that her attempts to...

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...describe the major character and protagonist of the novel «The greatGatsby» by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald Jay Gatsby by name. His role is relevant for the main line as the story revolves around him.
Fitzgerald uses indirect method of characterization. He delays the introduction of his character until chapter 3. Gatsby’s reputation precedes him. Gatsby himself does not appear in a speaking role. Fitzgerald presents Gatsby as the aloof, enigmatic host of the unbelievably rich parties thrown every week at his mansion. The author surrounds his character by spectacular luxury, courted by powerful men and beautiful women. Fitzgerald focuses reader’s attention on the fact that Gatsby is a subject of a gossip throughout New York and is already a kind of legendary celebrity before he is ever introduced to the reader. Fitzgerald propels the novel forward through by shrouding Gatsby’s background and the source of his wealth in mystery. After building Gatsby up as some mythical figure through the rumors, we see him as an average guy (We were sitting at a table with a man of about my age). This indicates that all the rumors aren’t true and Gatsby is a lot more normal than his reputation state. Fitzgerald uses this technique of delayed character revelation to emphasize the theatrical quality of Gatsby’s approach to life, which is an important part of his personality. As a...

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After reading "The GreatGatsby” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and watching the film directed by Jack Clayton, I noticed a few plot, character, and theme changes. As I was watching the movie I began to ask myself why did Jack Clayton take this event out or why did he add in this particular event? Was it for the sake of time or the fact that it was not an important part in the book? So I began to write notes and started to compare the great novel to the film.
The novel The GreatGatsby and its movie are very much a like when you talk about the general plot line. However, there are few small differences between the novel and the movie that sets them apart just enough to notice. Everything is the same until we arrive to the point where we first see Gatsby. The screenwriter changed the way that Gatsby is looking across the bay to the green lantern. Gatsby is not reaching for the light, but he is grasping it as if he already has it. This is a significant change in the way that we see Gatsby. In the novel we see Gatsby as a man trying to gain back his love with Daisy Buchanan. In the movie on the other hand we get the feeling and thought that Gatsby is not that desperate to have Daisy back in his life.
The director and the screenwriter also did not include the elevator boy...

...Seminar Essay
The GreatGatsby
By F. Scott Fitzgerald
While reading the classic novel The GreatGatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the reader can clearly see how this story can be viewed through the Marxist Lens. Through tales of trial and desperation, the story reveals what can happen when money and social class come into play. The author clearly portrays how the American dream can cause people to lose sight of the important things in life, and how people always want to make it to the top, no matter who they have to step on during the way up. Living in post-war America, the character’s visions are quickly clouded by greed and their egocentric desires, and tragedy strikes when lust and passion mix with sinful desires.
Marxist literary criticism is the critical lens used to differentiate between social classes in literature. The Marxist lens pays close to attention to the literary works forms, styles and meanings, in a way that the reader can comprehend them and apply them to a particular history. In this specific situation, The GreatGatsby effectively displays the difference between social classes, and how these people act as individuals, and as a whole social group. On the very first page of the book, there is a quote from the narrator’s father that says: “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve...

...test of a first rate intelligence was the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. This intelligence he describes is characterized by the principle of “double vision.” An understanding of this is essential to the understanding of Fitzgerald’s novel The GreatGatsby. “Double vision” denotes two ways of seeing; it suggests two things in opposition. The foundation of double vision is polarity, the setting of extremes against one another, which results in dramatic tension. For example, Fitzgerald utilizes a double vision motif with money to illustrate how it can be positive and constructive, but at the same time it can be very negative and destructive. In the following essay, I will illustrate the idea of double vision, in three of the main characters: Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, and Daisy Buchanan. Towards this end, I will show how Fitzgerald uses this artistic devise in his depiction of each of these protagonists by having positive (i.e. glamorous, romantic, and exciting) aspects of their character juxtaposed with negative (i.e. crude, corrupt and disgusting) facets of personalities.
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The GreatGatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who is perhaps one of the most recognized authors associated with the literary flowering of the 1920’s in America. The concern of most authors during this time was of the materialism that had suddenly swept the country. Credit was easy, interest rates were low, and corruption abounded. In The GreatGatsby, Fitzgerald portrays how the American dream of success was extinguished until it was nothing more than greedy desire. The sanguine American dream that had turned no one away and had given all an equal opportunity for happiness and success was no longer. Through use of his main character, Jay Gatsby, and through various symbols in the novel, Fitzgerald develops his sketch of the downfall of American society.
Jay Gatsby is Fitzgerald’s embodiment of the American dream of rags to riches. Gatsby began life as the son of poor farmers living on the shores of Lake Superior. Early in his youth Gatsby “knew he had a big future in front of him”. He later changed his name from James Gatz to the more fashionable sounding Jay Gatsby. The narrator of The GreatGatsby, Nick Carraway, is astounded by Gatsby’s ambition. “There was something gorgeous about him… it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in...

...If The GreatGatsby had taken place in Sri Lanka, the hype surrounding F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel would have been non-existent. The enthralling love affairs between the characters that are the foundation of the story would have been absent from the plot because Sri Lankan culture is grounded on Buddhism. Buddhist guidelines emphasize the thought that attachment leads to suffering, a theme that appears habitually throughout the novel. Most characters in the novel face this attachment, but at such a degree that they are unable to detach themselves from the thing they desire. The collective inabilities of Wilson, Gatsby and Tom to let go of the people they love are key contributors to Gatsby’s murder.
Wilson’s ineptitude to admit that Myrtle, his wife of 12 years, no longer loves him causes emotional suffering and plays a role in Gatsby’s murder. Wilson discovers that “Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him,” (111) that she shared with Tom. Wilson, in an attempt not to lose Myrtle forever, locks her in her room so that she can’t run away. His plan is to keep her closed off from the world for a few days and then “she is going whether she wants to or not” (111). Wilson plans on moving away with her so that the two can start a new life, with no one to get in between them. Although Wilson thinks that this will save his relationship, he is inept to acknowledge that he can’t do anything for them. Myrtle, trying to escape from...

...authored by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The GreatGatsby proves to be a satirical work of literature that illuminates flaws, misconceptions, and ignorance of society as a whole and the ideals of the “American dream” through Gatsby's actions and his belief that the past can be repeated for the right price. Throughout the novel, Jay Gatsby struggles to live his own version of the “American dream.” The dream of high social status, wealth, and past love ultimately leads to the down fall of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is not born into wealth and tradition, but into a lower social class than that of his love, Daisy (who was partially based on Fitzgerald‘s wife, Zelda). After returning from the war, Gatsby decides that in order to court Daisy he must obtain wealth. Gatsby meets Meyer Wolfsheim, a known gambler, and a shady character. Gatsby tells Nick of Wolfsheim,” He’s the man who fixed the World Series back in 1919”. Later on in the novel Wolfsheim tells Nick of how he met Gatsby as a poor young soldier just back from the war, “I raised him up out of nothing, right out of the gutter”. Fitzgerald leads the reader to believe that Gatsby’s wealth has been acquired through illegal activities.
Fitzgerald shows that the conceptual thought of the “American dream” is flawed through the contrasting deaths of Gatsby and Myrtle. The juxtaposition of...

...The GreatGatsby: The Corruption of the American Dream through Materialism The American dream is an ideal that has been present since American literature’s onset. Typically, the dreamer aspires to rise from rags to riches, while accumulating such things as love, high status, wealth, and power on his way to the top. The dream has had variations throughout different time periods, although it is generally based on ideas of freedom, self-reliance, and a desire for something greater. The early settlers’ dream of traveling out West to find land and start a family has gradually transformed into a materialistic vision of having a big house, a nice car, and a life of ease. In the past century, the American dream has increasingly focused on material items as an indication of attaining success. In The GreatGatsby, Jay Gatsby is a self-made man who started out with no money—only a plan for achieving his dream. He is so blinded by his luxurious possessions that he does not see that money cannot buy love or happiness. Fitzgerald demonstrates how a dream can become corrupted by one’s focus on acquiring wealth, power, and expensive things. Gatsby’s dream “is a naïve dream based on the fallacious assumption that material possessions are synonymous with happiness, harmony, and beauty” (Fahey 70). His American dream has become corrupted by the culture of wealth and opulence that surrounds him.
Gatsby is...